Taste of VAIL Celebrates 25th Anniversary
For a quarter of a century, Vail’s top-rated food and wine festival has been showcasing outstanding culinary dishes and wines that celebrate the best of Colorado and beyond.
The Taste of Vail will be celebrating its 25th anniversary April 8-11, 2015 with new enhanced events, wineries and exciting venues such as the Four Seasons Resort Vail. Rated as one of the top food and wine festivals in the United States by Forbes, Travel Channel and USA Today, the Taste of Vail offers several events throughout the four-day celebration. From mountain top picnics, to wine tastings, seminars and elegant dinners, attendees will find plenty of choices, including the 11th Annual American Lamb Cookoff and Aprés Ski Tasting, which takes place on Thursday, April 9. The American Lamb Cookoff is one of the most popular events, as visitors line the streets of Vail Village sampling the best lamb dishes created by chefs of the Vail Valley, who compete for top honors in the annual Judges’ Choice and People’s Choice categories.
On Friday, April 10, a highly anticipated new event will take place, the James Beard Dinner at Larkspur restaurant. This fine dining event will feature a number of well-known Colorado-based chefs, such as Thomas Salamunovich, Paula Turner, Brian Busker, Kelly Liken, Armando Navarro, Hosea Rosenberg and Kelly Whitaker. Also, the ever-popular closing night event, The Grand Tasting, will be held at a new venue, the Four Seasons Resort Vail in the heart of Vail Village. “With our 25th anniversary, we wanted to make a few changes and shake things up a bit as we celebrate this major milestone,” said Chris Chantler, chairman of the Taste of Vail board. “We are very excited about this new partnership with the Four Seasons and we believe it’s going to be a great location to celebrate the closing night of our anniversary festival. We also are looking forward to partnering with Larkspur for the James Beard Dinner and visitors to the annual food and wine festival will notice a number of new wineries showcased this year.”
Taste of Vail has over 50 wineries scheduled to showcase their varietals, including a number of new vineyards that are making their debut at the annual spring festival. Operating out of Saint Helena, Calif., Vineyard 29 has been causing a stir in the industry with its 29 Estate, Aida Estate and CRU wines. Each of Vineyard 29’s wines is hand-crafted in small lots in its technologically sophisticated, gravity flow winery and caves in St. Helena.
California’s Fritz Underground Winery will make its first appearance at Taste of Vail. Built into the side of a picturesque hill atop the northernmost region of the famed Dry Creek Valley, the Fritz Winery operates with a modern sensibility for efficiency and awareness by utilizing the unique attributes of its subterranean design. Naturally cool temperatures, ideal for wine making and cellaring, are maintained without any use of expensive or carbon-heavy devices common to most modern wine production. Look for favorites such as their Pinot Noir and Late Harvest Zinfandel, among others, to be showcased at the event.
Participants will find plenty of ticket options for the Taste of Vail 2015 , including a Signature Event Pass and special seminar packs. The Signature Event Pass provides access to the Debut of 2014 Rosé, the 11th Annual American Lamb Cookoff & Après Ski Tasting, Mountain Top Picnic and Grand Tasting for $385. New Four and Six-Pack Seminar passes also are available for attendees to experience a wide range of entertaining and educational sessions. The Four-Pack is on sale for $150 and the Six-Pack is currently $185. These seminar packs are non-transferrable and guests will need to sign-up for individual sessions once they are announced. Individual event tickets also are on sale now with the 2nd Annual Debut of Rosé available for $50, the signature Mountain Top Picnic available for $135 and the Grand Tasting for $175. For additional information on the event or to purchase tickets, please visit tasteofvail.com.
Liz Laing
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